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Manila, Philippines: Technology has made the world smaller and brought people closer. We monitor elections in a country from miles away, witness Facebook’s live video from space, and watch the live streaming of the Super Bowl’s halftime show where they happen, when they happen. But while the internet is a good platform for entertainment and be virtually part of world events, it also teaches us a sense of responsibility.

The media closely monitors the war in Syria, which started with a peaceful uprising in 2011. The United Nations reported that at least 250,000 people have been killed in the past five years, and displaced more than 4.8 million civilians. But the virtual world only started to really take note when a photo of a little boy from Aleppo, bloodied and shocked, went viral. Didn’t that image haunt you or made you ask “what can I do,” or “how can I help?”

A growing number of SEO professionals have taken the answer to that question a notch higher, and took on the challenge to be SEO Heroes. WIX, a cloud-based web development platform, started an SEO Hero contest for digital marketers and innovators. Everyone was invited to create a website optimized to the keyword, SEO Hero. If their website ranks highest for that search term in four months’ time, WIX will give the winning website $50,000.

The SEO Hero Challenge

Given the range of influence of SEO professionals in promoting businesses and making them thrive, they are also the best group of individuals to rally behind a cause such as drumming up support and assistance to the people of Syria. The SEO Hero challenge provides the perfect platform for SEO natives to do their part and make a difference. The Propelrr team is channeling this raw influence to spearhead a movement to help Syria’s children.

The Wix seo hero competition is open to all SEO professionals around the world. They are to create a website in English on any platform (not just wix.com) about SEO professionals and experts that can be considered heroes. Every day, a moderator will search Google for the term “SEO Hero.” The site to rank highest on average over the period of March 13 to 15, 2017 at 12:00PM ET (noon) and 20:00PM ET will be declared winner within two weeks of the challenge end date.

Google’s guidelines for SEO will be followed and all participants are expected to comply with the rules of the competition. Eran Hurvitz, CEO of MRKT360 INC, was tasked to ensure that everyone does. Entries must also satisfy the following requirements:

(1) Domain must be purchased on or after November 16, 2016. Note that the submission of entries was completed between November 16 and December 16, 2016.

(2) An account with Google Analytics and Google search console by February 16, 2017 to be connected to participant’s SEO Hero website.

Why join seohero.support?

Propelrr, a digital marketing company from the Philippines, initiated to gather SEO professionals and show the people of Syria that the world cares by joining the Wix SEO Hero contest. They createdseohero.support and gathered digital influencers and SEO professionals based locally and abroad. The supporters were interviewed and asked about how the online community can impact society. In “Hero Talk,” supporters are encouraged to talk about their concept of being a “hero” and how they think the professional practice can help make a difference.

To hero up for Syria, just sign up with your name and email and share how SEO professionals can band together for a good cause. The simple gesture of signing up could mean a whole world of difference for Syria.

SEO professionals are also encouraged to share the website on their own sites and social media pages. There’s also a badge you can share to show your support.

Should the website win, the full amount will be donated to Karam Foundation, a group committed to provide much-needed aid to Syrian children.

The work of Karam

Karam Foundation is a non-profit organization that is on a mission to rebuild Syria and provide a better future for its citizens and children. Apart from distributing aid, the foundation also developed innovative education programs for the Syrian youth refugees and continues to fund sustainable development projects for Syrian families.

Karam means generosity in Arabic. And true to their name, the foundation, which was founded in 2007 in Chicago, has been helping communities in need, starting with a food drive on the south side of Chicago in its early years. Today, they also help communities across the western part of Asia, including Syria.

Among their programs is to encourage families to sponsor a Syrian refugee. There are around one million Syrian refugee children today who need not just aid but long-term support such as education and other future-building tools. Karam itself is sponsoring over 200 refugee children to go to school. This can be done by donating $50 a month.

Karam also distributes emergency aid to the communities of Aleppo, a rebel stronghold. The foundation also believes in providing “smart aid” or programs that are sustainable and respond to the needs of the population. They are also building a Karam House, which is expected to be finished this 2017. It is a space of healing for survivors traumatized by violence and displacement.

The road to healing and rebuilding of Syria is long. But by being SEO Heroes, you can make things a little better by letting civilians and refugees know that the world cares.

About SEOHERO.SUPPORT

SEOHERO.SUPPORT is cause-driven call initiative seeking the support of all Digital and SEO professionals globally to win the WIX SEO Contest aimed to donate 100% all the $50,000 winning pot to the war-stricken children of Syria.

Have you experienced sitting by the window watching raindrops patter on the pavement and small streams of water gushing down the gutter, wishing for the rain to stop? Rainy days often make up the most boring times in our lives, but they don’t have to be, especially if you have kids.

Exciting adventures don’t always need to be held under the glaring heat of the sun on warm, windy days. With a little bit of creativity, you can convert your home into a fun and exciting venue for the whole family. Whether you’re living in a condo, stand alone home, or a townhouse, you can use every available space to create exciting activities for the family. If you’re running out of ideas, here are a few activities you can start with. They might also get your creative juices flowing.

If you enjoyed hours of entertainment playing board game classics like monopoly, snakes & ladders, battleship, and games of the generals as a child, you had an awesome childhood. A rainy day would be a great time to dust off the boxes and continue the fun with your family.

Classic board games are time tested so you’ll know they’ll be a hit, but you don’t need to stick to the classics alone. Some of the newer board games, such as Code Name and Time Stories will ensure endless hours of fun and excitement.

One of the benefits of condo livingis that you have plenty of neighbors and they don’t even need to run in the pouring rain just to visit you. If you’ve been blessed with a large screen TV or a projector, order a movie from your cable provider and have your friends come over with pizza and a few drinks. Just make sure that the movie is rated for the whole family so that no one gets left out, especially the kids.

If you’ve never experienced baking bread or cake, you need to place that activity in your bucket list. Baking is in itself an adventure because you just never know how it will turn out. The suspense that comes with sitting by the oven waiting to see if you baked a perfect piece is just surreal. Once its done, everyone can participate designing it and chomping it all down well.

If you think that cakes are a bit too difficult for your liking, you can try baking other goodies like cookies, cupcakes, or brownies.

Puppet shows take a bit of preparation so you’ll need to take some time out of your busy schedule to work on a play and the puppets you’ll be using. You can invest in puppets complete with strings and all but doing so might be a bit expensive. If you want a cheaper option, design old socks or cut the bottom off old stuffed toys so a hand fits inside.

All you need now is a stage and an old cardboard box, magic markers, colored paper, paste, and scissors. For your story line, you can make the puppets act out scenes of a famous children’s story or create one on your own if you have a penchant for story telling. You can even invite your next door neighbors for a bit more fun and excitement.

You don’t need to be an artist to make a masterpiece–a paintbrush, different color paints, and a canvass are all you’ll need to prove it. Your canvass doesn’t even need to be an artist’s canvass. It can be pieces of stone from the backyard, old cardboard boxes, or even t-shirts or jeans. Let your imagination flow and your kids will surely have plenty of excitement creating their own masterpieces as well.

A treasure hunt is a great outdoor activity, but it can also be quite exciting when held indoors. You can hide small treasures like chocolates and candies around the house and have your kids search for them. Just remember to stay safe and avoid hiding your treasure in areas where a child would need to climb on a chair or be exposed to dangerous household chemicals.

Create an elephant, bunny, dog, giraffe, birds, or even a planet with paper mache. All you need is some metal wire, old newspapers, paste, scissors, paint, and a paint brush. You’ll need to create the skeleton first using the metal wire, then cover it with strips of newspaper dipped in paste until you achieve the desired form. Leave it to dry for a little while and paint it to your heart’s wishes. Quick tip: elephants don’t always need to be gray and bunnies not always white, brown, or black; they can be any color you wish!

This activity can be quite challenging and you’ll need instructions, so you might want to buy a book or use instructional websites on the internet. Nonetheless, it’s a fun family activity that even kindergartners can easily appreciate.

Last, but certainly not the least, have some fun in the rain. If you or your kids don’t want to get soaking wet, use raincoats and rubber boots to play in the rain. Just make sure that everyone is safe, so choose an area that is a distance away from any traffic, has no open holes, and as secure as possible.

Rainy days may seem gloomy, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be. There are plenty of fun indoor activities when it’s rainy; activities you can enjoy with your kids until the sun shines through. All you need is a bit of imagination, creativity, and of course, a positive attitude. This rainy season, compile a list of indoor activities you can do with your family. If you’ve simply run out of activities, then visit an indoor sports gymnasium or go shopping in the mall. Always remember, the rainy season is a great time to bond with the family, so don’t let those rainy days go to waste.

Pre-defined social roles blur as personalities like Emma Watson and shows like Orange is the New Black tackle issues on sexuality, gender equality, and race. As more personalities speak up about women marginalization, gender and race equality, does this mean the end of social exclusion? Do shows like Orange and is the New Black reflect accurately the social paradigm shift?

Grammar is a touchy territory. Talking to grammar snobs is probably one of the most uncomfortable moments for anyone. Who (not whom) would not feel uneasy when talking to someone who (again, not whom) seems to check whether your subjects and verbs agree? However, when you are in content marketing, flawless grammar matters. It distinguishes a trusted brand from second-rate ones. It gives the impression that you are taking your job, your brand, and your audience seriously.

Pop satirist Weird Al Yankovic has some tongue in cheek reminders. With over 15 million views on Youtube, “Word Crimes”, a parody of Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines”, became an instant anthem for grammar police and nerds. The rise of social media has taken its toll on grammar — young people do not write in complete sentences anymore, spell words correctly, use punctuations, and so on. What we have is a generation of slang mumblings, you know? I mean, ain’t that right? Texting also altered the language landscape. It eliminated some “waste words and letters” but resulted in grammar ignorance and indifference. Weird Al’s grammar lesson aims to take us out of that black hole. Content marketers can pick up a few things from his two cents and save good content from forthcoming death.

In this rapid age of technological advancements, a simple click in the World Wide Web can help you start an online business. If you’d ask me, I’d be interested in putting up an online cupcake store so I can share my delicious creations with my friends, family, and potential customers. But the question is, how do I market my products? More importantly, with the popularity of social media networks, how can I utilize these social media tools to boost up my business?

Thanksgiving is already over and done with and this would signal the approaching finale of 2013! Just like in NBC’s The Voice Top 6, the end of their singing journeys is about to end.

Surely, almost, if not all of us are starting to look back as to what happened in the year that was. I smell throwback Thursdays and flashback Fridays looming in on the social media. Goodbye 2013 and hello 2014 would be a sure hit in hash tags! Continue reading →

Anyone who’s in the social media marketing arena would definitely want to get more done in lesser time, but to be productive can be a long and difficult process. Of course, you can’t be online all the time. Imagine how much more you could get done if you could actually be productive the entire time you are at work.

The prevalent challenge that online store owners face is increasing traffic to their site. Knowing how to stand out from the multitude of other shops contending for the same traffic is a formidable task.

In a nutshell, social media marketing is all about gaining traffic or attention through social media sites. It is in itself a catch-all term for sites that may offer completely diverse social movements. So why are search marketers going gaga over social networking sites? Simple. Continue reading →

“When the Beijing Olympics opened, it was on one of the luckiest days in the Chinese calendar, where the numbers 8-8-8 matched. This was no coincidence; the opening of the Olympics was planned for this day, to bring luck and good fortune to the event, and China’s own International Future.” (from Ezine Articles)

Asian countries are very particular with beliefs and traditions. Even in the face of modernity, traces of culture’s influence can still be seen. For them, success has something to do with luck and fortune. Is this also the same in dealing with real estate transactions? Do values and superstitions affect growth and prosperity?

Rainy season has arrived once again and you can expect a heavy down pour in most areas where the water levels suddenly increase. Because of this, you might think if it’s still safe for you to stay inside your own house or is it better if you go to a new higher place where a lease space is available. Moving to a different area that is not entirely yours is not as easy as what you think when your money and security are at stake. However, these reminders will keep you abreast about what you should do in renting during the wet season.

Podcasts. Whew I feel like eating whenever I hear this term. Pods right? Just try to make sense of that. So much for imaginary eating, I’ve been listening to podcasts since a friend told me about them a few years back. With the hundreds of podcasts one can listen to and learn from, you can definitely find one that will suit your needs. If you’re a business junkie with a high level of enthusiasm for real estate, listening to BiggerPockets simply becomes a must. It does not and will not teach you how to be a millionaire overnight but it will slowly get you there. Don’t expect to talk to experts who discuss theories and those dizzying statistics. Instead, expect to hear real people talk about their experiences and the life that they live.

“If your problem is that you’re too nice then stop being nice.”

That quote right there is nothing more than a strong statement from one of the listeners turned believers of BiggerPockets. BP really provides great information and solutions for their loyal listeners. I happened to listen to the 21st episode of the number one real estate podcast on iTunes. With Josh Dorkin and Brandon Turner as show hosts, the podcast show never ceases to amaze its listeners for its no nonsense and nonchalant way of presenting issues related to real estate. The podcast currently has 27 episodes discussing unique issues concerning real estate. What’s even more interesting about the show is that they generously share their ideas in regards how a starting individual should prepare for the struggles and even successes of being in the business.